"Anthony Weiner, a former congressman and candidate for mayor, asked a girl who he knew to be 15 years old to display her naked body and engage in sexually explicit behavior for him online," Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said.

"Justice demands that this type of conduct be prosecuted and punished with time in prison."

Weiner's stunning personal and political fall from grace — from rising political star to registered sex offender — had reached a new low as the packed courtroom emptied. Weiner remained behind, crying and talking with lawyers.

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Former state Sen. Tom Duane embraced Weiner in the hallway of the courthouse. Weiner's former political allies, like Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Clintons, were nowhere in sight.

Front page of the NY Daily News for Sept. 26, 2017.

"Obviously, it's a personal tragedy for himself and his family ... but as a father of young girls, what he did is highly, highly disturbing and criminal," Gov. Cuomo said in Albany. "I believe he should be punished for it."

Mayor de Blasio said it was time to leave Weiner's family in peace.

"It's a human tragedy for his family, for him, and someone who at one point I think had a lot to offer in public service," de Blasio said.

Weiner had sought probation. He argued he is sick and needs therapy, not incarceration.

Anthony Weiner is seen after he was sentenced to 21 months in prison. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

His sexting habit dates back to at least 2011, when an errant tweet of his bulging underpants destroyed his congressional career. Subsequent sexts introduced Weiner's online alias "Carlos Danger" and ruined his 2013 campaign for the Democratic nomination for mayor.

Yet the sexting continued. In August 2016, Weiner sent a revolting photo of a bulge in his underwear — with his son next to him. The gross habit even played a key role in the election of President Trump.

Federal investigators examining Weiner's laptop discovered emails on the computer appearing to pertain to a separate investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state.

Then-FBI Director James Comey announced he was reopening the Clinton inquiry only 11 days before the election — a move Clinton has said was critical to her defeat.

Anthony Weiner (r.) and Huma Abedin are still finalizing their divorce. (Jefferson Siegel/New York Daily News)

Weiner's legal team wrote the 15-year-old had received $30,000 for an exposé on Weiner's latest perversion and sought to influence the election. But Cote dismissed that argument.

"She was a minor, she was a victim," the judge said.

Weiner's attorney, Arlo Devlin-Brown, said he was disappointed by the sentence.

The punishment was "more severe than it had to be given the unusual facts and circumstances of this case," Devlin-Brown said.

Weiner was forced to admit he’d been sexting with a woman named Sydney Leathers using the alias “Carlos Danger” in 2013. (David Wexler/for New York Daily News)

Weiner pleaded guilty on May 19 to transferring obscene material to a minor.

That same day, Abedin filed for divorce.

Abedin and Weiner, who have a 5-year-old son, are still finalizing their divorce.

Weiner told the judge his son was the "one perfect thing in my life."

The teen who exchanged sexually explicit messages with Anthony Weiner appears on television for the first time on Inside Edition on Sept. 8. (Inside Edition)

"I was teaching him the wrong things ... finally I am teaching him the right lessons, accepting responsibility," Weiner said.

The couple's next divorce hearing is a phone conference scheduled for Nov. 15.